Nike Timeline

By TristanMcP

  • Creation of Blue Ribbon Sports

    Bill Bowerman and Phil Knight became partners of the Blue Ribbon Sports company, a shoe store that distributed Japanese "Tiger" shoes in the United States. The first order was placed for 300 pairs of shoes. Knight sold all of these shoes out of his truck's trunk.

  • The beginning of Nike

    In 1971, the name Nike was introduced by the man who was the first full-time employee at Blue Ribbon Sports, Jeff Johnson.
    Johnson produced Nike's first 3 pairs of shoes, and Nike's first product brochures.
    At this time, Knight and Bowerman made the jump from shoe distributors to designing and manafacturing their own brand of athletic shoes.

  • Launch of Nike Air

    Nike Launched it's Nike air shoe in 1979. The launch was incredibly successful.
    Entering the 1980's on a roll, by the end of 1980, Nike had completed it's IPO and become a publicly traded company.

  • Nike's Mistake

    In 1985, Nike badly miscalculated the Aerobics boom, and gave upstart competitors an open market to develop their businesses.

  • Nike Cross Training

    In the year of 1989, Nike began it's Cross Training product line.
    Because of the quality of the products, and the ad campaign "Bo Knows," this line exploded, and Nike had regained it's position as the industry leader.

  • Purchase of Bauer Hockey

    In 1998, Nike Purchased Bauer Hockey, a presently successful company still run under Nike.

  • The 2002 Secret Tournament

    In 2002, Nike attempted it's first real stab at global marketing with the Secret Tournament.
    This was the first time Nike marketed to a multi-fiscal niche, and not their usual super-human athlete.

  • Nike sets a Revenue target for 2015

    After many years, business at Nike is still booming and prices continue to rise. In June 2011, Nike set it's 2015 revenue goal for 28-30 billion dollars.

  • Nike Sponsors NFL

    In 2012, Nike became NFL's official sponsor. This is a great example of a marketing technique... the players people love to watch wear Nike shoes.

  • Nike+ Sports Band

    In 2009, Nike released the very first sports band, which tracks your progress of calorie loss, distance travelelled, and progres over time.